Big wall climber Siebe Vanhee enlists Drew Smith and fellow Belgian countrymen Nico Favresse and Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll to attempt the first free ascent of the elusive Riders on the Storm route on the East Face of Patagonia’s Torre del Paine Central Three Belgian big-wallers endure eighteen days (24.01.-10.02.2024) of howling snowstorms, frozen feet, and gnarly runouts in their attempt to make a long-coveted alpine first ascent. The route was opened first in 1991 by Wolfgang Gullich, Bernd Arnold, Kurt Albert, Norbert Batz and Petter Dittrich (1300m, 44 pitches, 7c+).
